Okay, so I had an outbreak of ich, but had no qt tank. I quickly took your advice, and got a 10 gallon tank. I filled it with DT tank water dropped fish in and dosed cupramine. I also got a heater, air stone, and Aqua Clear 20 HOB filter. Okay so here's my questions.
1. Dosed for cupramine (copper) as instructed and tested levels and seemed like there was barely .25 ppm...supposed to be around .6 ppm right? Colors are hard to match as well?
2. 6 weeks without fish in main tank to rid it of ich right? In mean time, waterchanges once a week still? What can I do to not lose the beneficial bacteria? Drop food in daily still? Corals and Inverts will be fine I assume?
3. Cupramine is supposed to be treated 14 days....after 14 days, do i just do water changes until I don't get any readings? Then continue feeding with garlic added to increase immune systems until 6 week period is up in main tank? This right?
4. Since my qt is all brand new, it isn't cycled, but this ich was an emergency. I threw an Aqua Clear sponge in my sump to seed it. How long? 2 weeks? Also I got this ammonia remover packet by aqua clear that goes in the filter. Is this safe and effective to use while medicating saltwater fish with copper? I will do my best to keep up with every other day water changes, but I was hoping this would provide a cushion?
5. Can I add corals to display tank during this 6 week fishless period? What if corals or inverts I add down the road have ick? I DON"T want ich again! What to do about this? I plan on qting all new fish I get for a month and treating with low dose copper to ensure fish will not bring ich again, but heard corals and inverts can bring ich....how do you add them safely? Also, I assume the ich will die on its own without fish even though I have snails, emeralds, hermits, and corals right?
I am sure there will be more questions! Sorry there is so much, just has been a nightmare and this outbreak in ich has almost made me want to give it all up. Thanks for all the help, hope my fish make it the next 6 weeks....guess the next 3-5 days will be the true sign....thanks all.
1. Dosed for cupramine (copper) as instructed and tested levels and seemed like there was barely .25 ppm...supposed to be around .6 ppm right? Colors are hard to match as well?
2. 6 weeks without fish in main tank to rid it of ich right? In mean time, waterchanges once a week still? What can I do to not lose the beneficial bacteria? Drop food in daily still? Corals and Inverts will be fine I assume?
3. Cupramine is supposed to be treated 14 days....after 14 days, do i just do water changes until I don't get any readings? Then continue feeding with garlic added to increase immune systems until 6 week period is up in main tank? This right?
4. Since my qt is all brand new, it isn't cycled, but this ich was an emergency. I threw an Aqua Clear sponge in my sump to seed it. How long? 2 weeks? Also I got this ammonia remover packet by aqua clear that goes in the filter. Is this safe and effective to use while medicating saltwater fish with copper? I will do my best to keep up with every other day water changes, but I was hoping this would provide a cushion?
5. Can I add corals to display tank during this 6 week fishless period? What if corals or inverts I add down the road have ick? I DON"T want ich again! What to do about this? I plan on qting all new fish I get for a month and treating with low dose copper to ensure fish will not bring ich again, but heard corals and inverts can bring ich....how do you add them safely? Also, I assume the ich will die on its own without fish even though I have snails, emeralds, hermits, and corals right?
I am sure there will be more questions! Sorry there is so much, just has been a nightmare and this outbreak in ich has almost made me want to give it all up. Thanks for all the help, hope my fish make it the next 6 weeks....guess the next 3-5 days will be the true sign....thanks all.
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